Top White House officials manipulated the scientific findings of independent experts to “seriously lowball the amount of oil leaking from the BP Deepwater Horizon,” according to a group of federal, state, and municipal employees.
BP levied some hefty accusations against Halliburton Energy Services in court Monday, claiming the company intentionally destroyed cement samples, test results, and computer models that would have demonstrated the contractor’s culpability in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
It’s been little more than a year since BP successfully plugged its blown-out Macondo well, and the effects of that catastrophic oil spill still abound on the Gulf Coast and deep beneath the surface. Years or even decades may pass before scientists finally get a handle on the spill’s impact, but that unfortunate mystery hasn’t stopped BP from acquiring the right to drill another exploratory well in the Gulf much like the Macondo well, only deeper.
A new federal government report released this week blames BP for most of the errors and oversights that caused the fatal Macondo well blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Compiled by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), the report echoes the findings of earlier probes, including those of a commission formed by President Obama to determine the cause of the spill, but it also slams BP for violating several federal safety regulations in an effort to save time and money.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) have taken emergency action to suspend natural gas drilling operations at the Marcellus Shale Wells near Pittsburgh. A June 3 gas well blowout caused polluted drilling water to spew 75 feet in the air, triggering the evacuation of state park visitors and nearby residents.
Many news reports have called President Obama’s six-month moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling an unwarranted knee-jerk reaction to BP’s catastrophic offshore explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Opponents of the moratorium say that the ban would deal a devastating economic blow to Gulf Coast communities already besieged by oil.
Federal regulations require oil companies to prepare and submit detailed spill-response plans before they can begin drilling offshore in American waters — and rightfully so. That body of water we call the Gulf of Mexico is a rich and diverse natural resource that directly sustains a way of life for millions of residents, whether they’re employed by the multi-billion-dollar seafood and tourism industries or any business in between. Simply put, a threat to the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystems is a threat to our economy and national security.
Much press has been given to the dire threat BP’s oil slick poses to the coastal ecosystems, marine environment, and the economies that depend on the health of both. But now another tragic extension of the oil disaster is becoming apparent – a feeling of hopelessness and abandonment that threatens ways of life and cultural traditions that give the Gulf Coast its own unique, irreplaceable personality.
The Environmental Protection Agency gave BP on Wednesday 24 hours to find an oil dispersant less toxic than the ones it has been spraying in massive quantities above the Gulf of Mexico and under the surface. The EPA requested that BP provide it with a list of available dispersants and begin using the new dispersants within 72 hours.
A leading oilfield services provider says that BP hired it to test the cement linings on the Deepwater Horizon’s drill column, but quit the testing and sent the crew home before its work was completed. Eleven hours later, natural gas blasted up the well and set off a series of giant explosions that sank what was supposed to be one of the most technologically advanced offshore rigs in the Gulf.
